Transcription service Otter limits access to archives, free users

Automated transcription provider Otter has reduced the free hours for transcription from 600 to 300 minutes per month for free users, said the company on Thursday.

The popular tool to record interviews with real-time transcription is now limited for free access to 25 most recent conversations, with older ones available via paid mode only.

The company said it is making some big changes to its offerings for both free and paying customers, applicable from September 27. It will add Otter Assistant which will automatically join meetings (even if you don’t) on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet to capture and share notes and meeting insights.

“We’re also adding our recently launched ‘Automated Outline’ feature. Now you’ll have access to automatic meeting summaries curated and displayed in the Outline panel so you and your colleagues can easily access a summary of what was discussed,” said the company.

The company is also making changes to Otter Pro, including expanding Otter Assistant features, adding Automated Outline, raising the price, and changing other features and usage limits.

While Otter Pro annual pricing will remain the same at $8.33 per month (billed annually), the company will increase Otter Pro monthly pricing from $12.99 a month to $16.99 a month.

Otter Pro users will get 1,200 minutes of transcription per month, 90 minutes per conversation, 10 imports per month, 100 names aling with 100 other terms custom vocabulary with ‘no Dropbox sync’ (available on Otter Business).